Returning the Favor
by YouStoleMySocks
Summary: There's snow in the Labyrinth, the goblins are excited, Sarah brings a gift and Jareth decides to return the favor. And all the while, there are snowballs running amuck. A oneshot.


**A/N: So a friend of mine gave me this idea to play with :9 it was supposed to be up for Christmas and that just didn't happen so here it is for New Years. I don't really know how it turned out, my brain kind of turned to mush by the end and I was really just focused on finishing it :P But hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway. I own nothing.**

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><p>Something wonderful was happening in the Underground. While goblins and kings slept tucked warm in their beds . . . or in the case of the goblins in piles of hay, snow was beginning to fall on the kingdom. Big, fluffy flakes drifted lazily from the sky, burying the city under a blanket of white. It was still snowing when the sun finally rose behind the clouds. Huge drifts had formed in the streets and scores of goblins poured from their homes at the sight. Up in his tower, Jareth woke to the sound of their excited shrieking. His eyes opened to slits and he growled irritably. He was about to yank the sheets back over his head and sink back into sleep when he caught hold of a faint scent. Pausing in disbelief for a moment, he threw off the covers and lurched to the window, fully awake now. There was a sizeable pile of snow dusting the ledge. He scooped up a handful, almost surprised at the cold, and looked out over the city. Every building was smothered by white and he could see goblins scurrying about in wonder. He laughed softly and, lobbing the snow out the window (to hit some poor unsuspecting soul), turned away to get dressed. Several minutes later, he was wearing cream-colored breeches tucked into soft leather boots and a black shirt with loose, flowing sleeves beneath a cream-colored vest. Lastly, he grabbed a black coat with long tails made of the same leather as his boots and shrugged into it. He clasped the buckles tightly as he strode out of his room and down the many staircases until at last he stood in the massive entryway where a goblin was burying his companion under the snow.<p>

"Having fun?" Jareth asked, fixing his gloves.

"Majesty, majesty! White stuff!" the buried goblin squawked excitedly. They both burst into raucous laughter and flopped about wildly in the snow.

The Goblin King rolled his eyes quietly but could understand their enthusiasm. He stepped over them and descended the stairs into the city. Everywhere there were goblins, more than he'd seen at one time in a good long while. They flocked to him, their eyes filled with awe and wonder. They all tried to speak at the same time and he attempted to capture their attention to quiet them but his voice fell on ears deafened by excitement. He had to close his eyes against the headache beginning to form behind his eyes.

"Alright you lot, leave him alone."

Jareth's eyes snapped open while the entire city went silent. But not for long.

"Lady! It's the Lady!"

Dozens of goblins took up the cry as they abandoned their king to swarm around the woman standing in the snow. She laughed, and the sound carried back to the discarded king, instantly capturing his attention. The woman crouched down to pat goblin heads and shake goblin hands while they bombarded her with questions, welcomes, and phrases of adoration. She laughed again, a bit overwhelmed by their overzealousness.

"Why Sarah whatever are you doing here?"

She glanced up at where Jareth stood on his own, the expression on his face revealing he was not unhappy to see her but, although he was far from angry, he was not particularly pleased with his goblins. Said goblins followed Sarah's gaze to him, glanced at her, then looked back at him. She straightened and gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, I uh actually, have, a little…gift."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

She chewed her lip and then leveled her gaze on him. "Yes."

He laughed softly, a smirk twisting his mouth. "Away, all of you, go play in the snow."

The goblins, slightly disappointed but quickly forgetting about it in favor of the wonder of the white stuff, bounded away to play in the snowdrifts. Jareth took a moment to study the woman. She was wearing a puffy white jacket that made her look vaguely like a marshmallow and the thought made his smirk stretch. She also had on black pants that were tucked into white boots and a red knit hat that matched the gloves on her hands. Her cheeks and nose were bright from the cold. She noticed his staring and began chewing on her lip again, her eyes casting downward.

"So you brought me a gift?"

She looked up and her face flushed a little darker. In a voice stained slightly with nervous laughter, she said, "Yeah. I guess I did."

She walked up to him, her cheeks growing deeper at the way he watched her every step. Stopping a foot away from him, she swallowed her blush, took a deep breath of freezing air, and reached into her pocket. He raised an eyebrow as she drew out a piece of dark green cloth.

"What is this?"

She let out a shaky laugh and unfurled the cloth. "It's a scarf. I thought you might like it."

With a shy smile, she raised her arms and looped the scarf around his neck. He smirked as the action brought her close enough to catch her scent. She smelled like summer with the faintest hint of peaches. He laughed softly at the irony while she pulled away and tied the ends of the scarf together, drawing them snug against his throat.

"Thank you my dear, your gift is much appreciated. I'll have to find a way to return the favor."

"Jareth that's not necessary."

He placed a finger to her mouth to silence her and murmured, "I insist."

She pursed her lips against his hand before stepping back away from his touch. "Fine. If you insist."

He gave her a sharp-toothed smile. "I do."

She studied his expression for a moment before rolling her eyes and turning around on her heel. She made her way over to where a group of goblins were digging a tunnel into a snowdrift, Jareth stalking close behind. They were chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they rolled, swam, and burrowed through the drift.

"You'd think they'd never seen snow before." Sarah laughed.

"They haven't."

Her brow furrowed and she looked up at the Goblin King. "What?"

"Sarah, there hasn't been snow in the Underground for centuries." He gazed down at her, a brief shadow of sadness flitting across his face before a smirk took its place. "But you seem to have brought it with you when you came here today."

She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment. One of the goblins, a short little thing with a tuft of white hair on the top of his head, bounced up to Sarah and tugged on her jacket.

"Lady, come play in the white stuff?" He squeaked when she looked down.

She smiled and said, "Of course Pleps."

She followed the goblin as he led her towards the drift, leaving the Goblin King with his brow raised.

"Come on, come on." He said excitedly, stooping down and waddling into the tunnel. She sighed softly, a sound that morphed into laughter at the end, as she dropped to all fours and crawled in after the goblin. The tunnel was about four feet long and then it spilled out into a wide chamber, tall enough for Sarah to stand if she hunched. However, that position became very uncomfortable if held too long so she opted to stay kneeling instead.

"Wow, nice fort guys." She said, looking around the room.

The three goblins that were finishing up hollowing out the drift turned to her, their cheeks burning slightly at her compliment, and grinned like idiots.

"Why thank you Lady." Pleps said, his thumbs unconsciously twiddling.

She giggled at them for a moment before her jaw dropped and an explosive gasp filled the air.

"L-Lady? You ok?" Pleps asked, his eyes wide with concern.

Without giving a reply, she whipped around and peeked out the tunnel. She could see Jareth, his foot tapping impatiently while he fixed his gloves. She grinned widely and turned back to the goblin.

"Pleps, I just got the most magnificent idea ever." She said, her voice slightly breathless. She crooked a finger to beckon him closer and when he toddled up to her, she leaned in to whisper in his ear. She straightened and watched him shift his weight back and forth with excitement.

"How do I make em?" he asked.

She smiled and scooped up a handful of snow.

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

Jareth watched Sarah crawl out of the tunnel and clamber to her feet, a smirk gracing his lips while she dusted the snow off her pants. It was a pointless action, however, because snow was still drifting from the sky in giant flakes. She tromped through the snow towards him but was intercepted by a gaggle of goblins. They grabbed her by the hands and led her in the direction of another drift. She glanced back at Jareth, giving him a shrug and a grin, but turned away before she could see his expression fall into a scowl. He wasn't particularly happy with his goblins stealing all of the woman's attention. He sighed quietly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yer Majesty!"

He glanced at the sound just in time to see a ball of white hurtling towards him. It slammed into his shoulder and stuck there. He glanced down at it briefly before looking up for its origin. Another ball sailed through the air to hit him perfectly in the infamous bulge. His jaw clenched tightly and he glared at the goblin who'd thrown them. He took one step toward the sheepishly grinning creature.

"Oh Jareth!"

He paused and looked to the sound of Sarah's voice. Yet another snowball came speeding towards him. This one smacked him in the face with enough force to snap his head to the side, if only a little. He chuckled softly, brushing the snow off his cheek before training his gaze on the woman. She raised an eyebrow in arrogance but he could detect just the briefest flash of fear in her expression.

"That was a very bad idea, my dear Sarah."

With a flick of his wrist, he produced a crystal, a smirk curling his lips. He lobbed it at her and in midair it changed into a snow ball that caught her right in the chest. She gasped loudly, barely glancing at the snow splattered across the front of her jacket. Her teeth ground together and she glared at him.

"Yeah? Well, right back at you."

He cocked an arrogant eyebrow at her but her sights were trained on a goblin with a tuft of white hair on his head.

"Pleps?" she called.

The goblin bounced up and down with excitement and yelled at the top of his lungs, "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

There was perhaps a half-second hesitation before snow was flying everywhere. Pleps had made sure that every goblin in a fifty-mile radius knew how to make a snowball and dozens of them were now soaring through the air. Sarah managed to duck one as she dropped to the ground to scoop up a fistful of snow. She packed it into a ball and sent it hurtling towards Jareth. He easily sidestepped it, returning with his own crystal turned snowball. She jumped out of the way but she wasn't fast enough and it clipped her side. She huffed loudly and shot him a glare, to which his only reply was a feral grin. They both drew back their arms for the next shot but they didn't have a chance to fire. They were caught in a storm of snowballs as goblins around the square threw them with reckless abandon. Sarah shrieked with laughter while she was pelted with snow. Shielding her head with her arms, she made a mad dash for the fort. She crawled through the tunnel and spilled out into the chamber, leftover giggles tumbling out of her throat. Sitting up, she began shaking the snow out of the ends of her hair and became painfully aware of the snow dripping down her jacket. She squirmed and attempted to dig it out without taking off her coat but she only managed to force it farther down.

"Allow me."

She jumped at the sound of Jareth's voice in her ear. Glancing over her shoulder, a blush dusting her already rosy cheeks at how close he was behind her, and asked, "Where'd you come from?"

A wide smirk was his only reply as his hand snaked down the back of her jacket. He pushed her hair forward and dragged out a handful of snow. Tossing it aside, he reached for more snow and said, "In case you were wondering, you still owe me for that snowball."

"The one that got you in the face?" she replied, unable to stop the jab. She regretted it instantly when he pinched her back and she yelped.

"The snow all melted." He said, nonchalantly.

She huffed quietly and zipped her jacket back up. "So was that in exchange for the scarf?"

"What, helping you get the snow out of your coat? No, my dear, that was me being generous."

She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted a loud clamor outside the fort. Sarah bent down and peeked out the tunnel. The goblins were totally at war with each other. Snowballs were flying at dangerous speeds; goblins were yelling at each other, it was utter madness.

"What have I done?"

"You've created monsters."

She let out an explosive sigh and watched two goblins run passed the tunnel. The next thing she knew, the ceiling was caving in. Something hard connected with her chest and pushed her backwards out of the way of the snow. She had closed her eyes at some point. Opening them, she looked up first at Jareth's face and then down to see that he had thrown out his arm to save her from being buried. Then she remembered the roof and looked up. Half the ceiling had crumbled down, probably because of some stray snowball.

"Thanks." Sarah said, returning her gaze to the Goblin King's face.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded and he smirked. "I'm delighted to hear it."

She thought she could detect a hint of sarcasm in his tone and she scowled before shoving him. Laughter rumbled through his chest, he'd hardly moved. This made the pout more prominent on her face. He chuckled softly again and tilted her chin up with a finger. She stared up at him, rather defiantly, but her expression broke when he leaned in.

"What are you doing?"

"Returning the favor." He murmured before pressing his lips to hers.


End file.
